


yet another link in the chain

by Velsim



Series: Warcraft AUs [2]
Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, Warcraft III, World of Warcraft
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Gen, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, can be read as romantic or not whatever floats your mana buns, not tagging character death because he's back in the next paragraph
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23463607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velsim/pseuds/Velsim
Summary: How Kel'thuzad found himself bound to Lordaeron's prince.
Relationships: Kel'Thuzad & Arthas Menethil, Kel'Thuzad/Arthas Menethil
Series: Warcraft AUs [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1687903
Kudos: 16





	yet another link in the chain

**Author's Note:**

> Another one from the "what if soulmarks existed in Azeroth" idea and how that might play out. This time featuring the disaster wizard.

**1** \- As he watches over the spires and tiled roofs of Dalaran, Kel’Thuzad feels content, finally, for the first time that accursed week. The air is thick and humming with magic, bending the incoming light to a pinkish color, making for a ridiculously picturesque view as the sun nears the horizon. Romantic, probably, a view for young lovers, he thinks, and scoffs at the notion as he turns back from the window, because he is neither.

 **2** \- When his new apprentice enquires after his studies with, it seems, genuine interest, and listens to his theories with fascination, he’s surprised at the sudden fondness he feels, but after one comfortably domestic evening in his study and a whole bottle of Dalaran Red, he is gripped with a sudden fear and spends the next half hour checking his body for any kind of soulmark that might have caused such an odd feeling. There is none, and while his relief is great - to have one’s soul bound to anything seems like such a disadvantage for any aspiring mage - there is also a lingering disappointment.

 **3** \- Life as an exile is not all that bad, not when he still has his material possessions, and above all, the whispers of the Lich King, granting him purpose, power. To his surprise, the pact he has made with the hollow suit of armor has not yet left a visible mark on him. Alone to the end, it seems, and he smiles to himself as he draws from the strange, cold magic and forces it into the twisted and barely recognizable corpse on the barn’s floor. No, not quite alone. The corpse spasms once, twice, violently, and soon assumes a crouching position, shivering and trembling terribly. Did the spell not work correctly? Impossible, his pride says, even though the miserable creature is the first ghoul he has ever raised. Soon he recognizes the ghoul’s childlike mannerisms - fear, confusion, for its shaggy hair has fallen all over his face and its head is tilted at an angle that will not allow vision. He approaches it, suddenly cautious, and as he gently tilts its head upright and brushes its hair back, he can hear the voice in his head mock him, but he ignores it, only this once.

 **4** \- While he does have a plan, some purpose, now, Kel’Thuzad still does not believe in destiny, not even when the Lich King prophecies him his own death and its exact execution. As he regretfully sends off more of his ghouls against the nearing attackers - such a waste, really - he prepares to say his last lines with little enthusiasm. However, when the blow has been struck and he cannot feel his legs anymore, forcing himself to at least die with dignity, he catches a glimpse of the righteous fury in his assailant’s eyes, and his last breath escapes with a content sigh. If this is truly Ner’zhul’s chosen champion, then destiny might still have something in store for him.

 **5** \- After months of haunting Lordaeron’s prince, he has begun to sympathize with the man, silently cheering him on on his journey, offering a ghostly hand of comfort after the culling of Stratholme, accompanying him through the frozen wastes, bowing unseen to his act of regicide. Then, after Silvermoon’s walls have fallen, its palaces crumbled by his prince’s hand, and he has risen again from the Sunwell, Kel’Thuzad is beginning to believe.

 **+1** \- Still Dalaran’s spires catch the evening sunlight, their bright pinks and purples only dimmed by the wizards’ magical barrier intended to stop them. Amateurs, he thinks, and gives his master a skeletal grin. The protective spell is nothing against the power he has been granted, the devotion to the name now etched into his bones. Kel’Thuzad may serve the Frozen Throne, but Arthas is his king now.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments or criticism highly appreciated. Not a native speaker, so please let me know if something sounds off.  
> Also this is an older work I am only now getting around to post, but my feelings for this trainwreck of a ship are still going strong.


End file.
